Georgia Southern routs New Mexico State
STATESBORO -- Coming off a bye week and facing its biggest game of the season on Thursday, Georgia Southern could not have asked for a better scenario than faced had Saturday night.
It was homecoming for the Eagles, and they were playing in all white helmets, rather than their traditional blue for some added pizzazz, so it would have been easy to get caught looking ahead to Thursday's Sun Belt Conference game at Appalachian State.
Fortunately, the opponent at Paulson Stadium was New Mexico State.
And the Aggies showed why they have the longest streak in the nation among FBS and FCS teams with a 56-26 loss to Georgia Southern.
The victory was the Eagles' fifth straight after a season-opening loss at West Virginia and sets up a battle for first place in the conference with Appalachian State when two meet Thursday in Boone, North Carolina. The Eagles have yet to lose in Sun Belt play after going 8-0 last year in their debut season, and should they get past the Mountaineers, they will not face a team with a winning record the rest of the seasom.
Georgia Southern (5-1, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) has now won 12 straight conference games while Appalachian State (5-1, 2-0) defeated Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night. Arkansas State (3-3, 2-0) is also unbeaten in Sun Belt play. The Mountaineers and Red Wolves will face one another Nov. 5. A win over Appalachian State would put the Eagles in excellent position to claim a second straight conference championship.
This was New Mexico State's 16th straight loss. Unlike last year's game at New Mexico State when they fell behind 14-0 before rallying for a 36-28 win, the Eagles jumped out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back.
Georgia Southern led 35-7 at the half, and while New Mexico State scored on its first possession of the second half, the Eagles scored 21 straight points to quickly erase any Aggies comeback hopes.
"I thought we could have played a little better," Georgia Southern quarterback Kevin Ellison said. "We made a lot of little mistakes, and there were a couple of series where just made some mistakes that cost us.
"Overall, though, we won, and this will give us confidence going to Appalachian. We're where we want to be as far as the conference race."
Matt Breida ran for 137 yards and one touchdown to lead Georgia Southern. Ellison had 104 yards rushing, including a 67-yard touchdown run, and he completed 2-of-5 passes for 64 yards, including a career-long 60-yard completion to freshman Wesley Fields for a touchdown.
Fields had 38 yards on the ground, and he scored the first touchdown of the game on a 19-yard run up the right side. On his scoring reception, Fields caught the ball at the Aggies' 40 and outran the secondary down the left side.
"The pass felt great," Ellison said. "He's (Fields) a phenomenal player to be a freshman. He can do it all."
This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Georgia Southern routs New Mexico State ."